


A Neighborly Halloween

by merry_amelie



Series: Academic Arcadia [204]
Category: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Genre: Alternate Reality, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-13
Updated: 2013-10-13
Packaged: 2018-04-10 15:23:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4397105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merry_amelie/pseuds/merry_amelie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An unexpected treat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Neighborly Halloween

**Author's Note:**

  * For [obi_ki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/obi_ki/gifts).



> Feedback: Is treasured at merryamelie@aol.com (or leave a comment).
> 
> Disclaimer: Mr. Lucas owns everything Star Wars. I'm not making any money.
> 
> For  
> My beta team: Nerowill, Emila-Wan, and Carol  
> Mali Wane for posting  
> My former betas: Alex, Ula, and Padawan Sue
> 
> Here are the Halloween Arcadias:  
>   
> 2003 -- [Masquerade](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1416970)  
> 2004 -- [Hallowe'en Kata](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1798078)  
> 2005 -- [Happy Tatooween](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4494276)  
> 2006 -- [Happy Tatooween, Take Two: Undercovers](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4494279)  
> 2007 -- [A Jedi Halloween](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4140561)  
> 2008 -- [Jedi Trick or Treat](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4209189)  
> 2009 -- [Return of the Jedi Halloween](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4276158)  
> 2010 -- [A Little Halloween Diplomacy](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4359473)  
> 2011 -- [Hallowed Light](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4388372)  
> 2012 -- [Halloween on the Go](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4397036)  
>   
> Please read [Good Neighbors](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4312137) and [Tea and Empathy](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4312152) if you'd like to know more about Violet and Prudence.  
>   
> To Stacey and obi-ki

"Hello, Violet!"  
  
Quinn ushered his friend inside the house with a welcoming smile. She came in, barely visible beneath a stack of her customary containers of baked goods, which he took from her, gallant as a modern-day Jedi Knight should be, as soon as she crossed the threshold.  
  
He and Ian had already had a full day on this Halloween Thursday. First, they'd taught their classes, attended a committee meeting, and held office hours at Luke. Then, they had taken Lelia and Han trick-or-treating around the neighborhood and mediated high-level candy trades between the children. Apparently, there was some disagreement about what a full-sized York Peppermint Patty was worth compared to an Almond Joy. After the kids' pumpkins were bursting with their chosen candy, he and Ian had volunteered to drive Lelia home to New York City, sparing her parents and grandparents another round trip. They had just returned a little over fifteen minutes ago.  
  
Violet knew about their hectic schedule, so she had volunteered in turn to help them get a head start on the preparations for their block party tonight. Fortunately, Quinn had done the vacuuming last night, or they would have had a hard time keeping her away from their old Eureka upright.  
  
As Quinn and Violet walked into the living room, she grinned up at him as he matched his pace to hers. He put down the treats on the coffee table and spread them out over the cherrywood surface. They both smiled when Ian came in from the kitchen to give Violet a hug.  
  
"Happy Halloween and May the Force be with you!" she said to the two of them, in deference to their outfits.  
  
"And with you," Quinn said, eyes at full crinkle as he nodded serenely at Violet.  
  
He and Ian were still wearing their tunics and leggings, since they hadn't wanted Lelia to have to wait for them to change before her ride into the city. By the time they'd gotten home, they were running behind on their party preparations already, so they decided that at least the hosts of their Halloween party would be in costume this year.  
  
The three of them sat down on the couch, with the men leaving Violet the arm-rest on the left side, and chatted for a couple of minutes. When they took the lids off the tins and dropped them on the table, the clatter rivaled the cymbals in Luke's marching band. But Ian and Quinn hardly noticed, though, their attention focused on the treats within.  
  
The assortment of goodies was beyond tempting -- marshmallow-cream ghosts, jack o'lantern oatmeal-carrot cookies with candy-corn eyes and teeth, walnut brownies shaped like bats, to name just a few -- the men were practically drooling already. Violet had even remembered Artoo and Sandy: she included a packet of falling-leaf-colored Milk Bones for them to enjoy.  
  
"Wow!" said Ian. "You've outdone yourself this year, Violet. Thank you."  
  
Violet beamed at him. "And thank you for salivating over the treats. It's quite flattering. Go ahead," she said, waving at the desserts, "there's plenty for the whole neighborhood."  
  
As he ate his bat brownie, Quinn could feel her indulgent eyes upon him, as if he were a little boy like Han. Amazing the way his height seemed to lessen by two feet when she was in the room, especially since she was so diminutive herself.  
  
"By the way," Violet said in an overly casual tone, "I've brought another present for you, which I think you'll like even better." She pointed to a tin of butterscotch-chocolate chip blondies, shaped like pumpkins. "This batch is from Prudence for you both."  
  
Quinn and Ian just looked at her for a moment, stunned. They had never expected this to happen.  
  
"What's the matter, boys? Black cat got your tongue?" teased Violet.  
  
"I can see that Ian has been rubbing off on you," Quinn teased back, once he got his mouth in gear again. As soon as he realized what he'd said, though, he had to use all of his durasteel control not to snort at the unintentional innuendo.  
  
Luckily, Violet had diplomatic flair to rival the professors, which she had developed after living with Prudence for the last three and a half years. Although she'd understood Quinn's double entendre immediately, she betrayed not a hint of it. After all, at her age, she had seen and heard it all before.  
  
The three of them started to smile. Five years of one-sided hostilities seemed about to end. Incredible that the professors' first run-in with Prudence had occurred on Halloween back in 2008, and now, here it was, Halloween once more, and there was the promise of peace.  
  
Quinn hadn't fully realized how Prudence's continued disapproval had affected him through the years. He'd tried to forget about it and focus on his and Ian's pleasant relationships with the rest of their neighbors. But it wasn't easy, feeling her Hoth-cold gaze behind the twitch of the curtains just about every time they walked by her house.  
  
Luckily, the rest of the neighborhood had ignored her digs at them and simply embraced them as friends, the way they always had before she moved in. Mr. Jefferson privately told Quinn, "If Violet can get along with Prudence despite her attitudes, we can get through this without a civil war."  
  
"Or an uncivil one," Quinn had added wryly.  
  
Now he felt like a weight had been lifted he hadn't known he was carrying. He put a relaxed arm around his lad's shoulders and squeezed.  
  
Violet could see the relief in his eyes when he shared a glance with her. "Apparently, Prudence took your standing invitation to heart this year, and has decided to join us at the party tonight."  
  
Ian and Quinn just looked at each other, stunned for the second time in scant minutes. Violet was full of surprises today.  
  
Quinn took a deep breath. "She's always welcome here."  
  
"I've told her that," said Violet. "I think it's finally sunk in."  
  
"We have you to thank for this, Violet," Ian said earnestly. "Without your diplomacy through the years, it never would have happened." He patted her hand. "Prudence had no incentive to change before you befriended us."  
  
"Somebody had to coax her into the 21st century." Violet grinned at them.  
"She asked me to let you know she's coming first, as a way to test the waters."  
  
"That was a smart move." Ian chuckled. "I'm sure she wouldn't have appreciated my mouth dropping open when I answered the doorbell."  
  
Violet said, "She'll probably be here any minute. We agreed that if I didn't call," she patted the cell phone he and Ian had taught her to use after they rescued her on the bike path, "she would come over about fifteen minutes after I got here."  
  
Right on cue, the doorbell picked that moment to ring. Of course, it might have been a trick-or-treater, but when Quinn looked over at Ian, he could see that his lad had one of his infamous feelings about who was really at the door.  
  
Quinn got up and walked over to look through the peephole. Sure enough, it turned out to be Prudence herself. He let her in with a bright hello and even brighter smile.  
  
Prudence straightened to her full height, about half a foot shorter than Ian. "If I may, I would like to start over again, properly this time. Hello, Professors. My name is Prudence Withering, and it is a pleasure to meet you."  
  
Quinn and Ian shook hands with Prudence, beaming at her for giving them a second chance at friendship.


End file.
